Today we’re featuring a guest post from high school graduate Gina who earned her EVERFI – Financial Literacy for High School certification last spring. Gina shares how the EVERFI program helped her make financial decisions in advance of starting college this fall. Congratulations to Gina for being one of our scholarship recipients, and best of luck as you head off to school!

I have many goals and dreams that I want to accomplish in my life and because of EVERFI, which is a great tool, I have gained the knowledge and skills to get there.

I am attending college in the fall and need to save up and budget all my money to be able to pay for it. The college module helped me understand the FAFSA and how to fill it out for college financial assistance, which has helped me greatly. Once I graduate from college, I would love to be able to afford a place of my own and a nice, yet affordable car. I have traveled before and still want to in the future. I’d like to be able to splurge on things once and a while as well. I have learned so much from taking these online modules and quizzes and now can apply them to my life. Staying on budget has always been tricky, but I have learned different ways to stay in budget by differentiating wants from needs and knowing what you can and cannot afford.

I now understand the workings and importance of the banking system and how my credit score can affect me in getting loans or purchasing a car or house. Since I want to be able to afford and get both a car and house, I need to establish and monitor a good credit score for future use. I learned the different options when it comes to renting verses owning and how to choose what will work best in my situation. Renting an apartment with another person will most likely be a good option for me out of college so I can save up my money to eventually be able to afford my dream house. I never understood when looking at my paycheck why so much money came out of it every week, but now I know that by paying that money, it helps with a variety of things such as upkeep with public areas and roads, pays government workers, benefits citizens, etc.

What I thought impacted me the most was the importance of investing and saving my money for the future. Investing my money is a risk, but the greater the risk the greater the outcome, which could be put towards my retirement and my love of traveling. I also feel it is important to invest smart just like anything else you do. I have learned to make sure to educate myself before buying something and researching the best price or options. The best fact I could have learned from these modules is if you save $2,000 a year from around age twenty you will have just under a million dollars to retire with and if I use all of these modules together and invest, save, and spend wisely, I could have more and live the way I want to and achieve my goals and dreams.

Since starting his career, Zach Wagner’s work has focused on the intersection of education, technology, and design. He started his education career in a classroom in North Philadelphia and has been committed to transforming education ever since. After graduate school, he joined fellow Harvard graduate in building a product that teachers could use for quick classroom assessment. Their product was regularly used by over 60,000 teachers and 2 million students. Since joining EVERFI in 2014, he has led the development of some of the most wide-reaching digital programs in the education space.

Zach holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Art from Vassar College and a Ed.M. in Technology and Innovation from Harvard University.

Tom Parisi, Executive Vice President - K-12 Schools Network

Tom has been with EVERFI since 2010 and is passionate about the organization’s approach to educating the whole child. He currently oversees the K12 team that works with over 70,000 teachers and administrators throughout the United States and Canada.

Tom received a B.A. in Economics and Public Policy from Duke University, and before joining EVERFI, spent four fun and rewarding years teaching at a middle school in Alexandria, VA. Tom also attempted to coach soccer at the school, but after three straight championship losses, boosters bought out the remainder of his contract.

Rob Buelow, Vice President - Higher Education

Rob Buelow is a public health professional and award-winning expert in campus sexual assault prevention, with over 10 years of experience in Higher Education. At EVERFI, Rob oversees prevention research and thought leadership while also contributing to the ongoing development of EVERFI’s leading online prevention platforms. He has received state and national recognition for his work as a prevention educator, including the 2009 Outstanding Prevention Educator award from the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Kim Timpf, Senior Director - Higher Education

Ms. Timpf has more than 20 years experience in the college alcohol and other drug prevention field, having worked at both public and private universities. She has authored and managed federal and state grants, coordinated nationally recognized prevention programs, and served multiple terms as the directorate chair of AOD issues for ACPA. At EVERFI, Kimberley serves as a subject matter expert in alcohol prevention program design and development, application of prevention theory in higher education settings, training and instruction, and methods of evaluation.

Meg Moyer, Vice President of Research

At EVERFI, Meg researches the interplay between education, financial institutions, and social factors in influencing financial capability. She also measures the impact of financial education courses on learners using assessment and survey data, providing reports of course impact to sponsors, districts, and schools around the country. Prior to EVERFI, Meg held a similar role assessing the impact of online and offline educational programming for youth sports coaches. Meg holds a degree in economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Dan Zapp, Director of Research

Dr. Dan leads the data analysis, development, and dissemination of findings for the research arm at EVERFI. He earned his PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology at George Mason University, where he studied social, emotional, and cognitive development in children, adolescents, and young adults as well as how to leverage sound research into actionable decisions for parents, educators, administrators, and policy-makers. Specifically, Dan focuses on the development of critical concepts in adolescence and teaching young adults about substance abuse and sexual assault, using educational technology.